The present invention relates in general to a flexible production process for fabricating a heat pipe, and more particularly, to a flexible production process that allows production of heat pipe to be resumed after temporary or over-night off of the production line.
In the typical fabrication process of heat pipes, processes such as cleaning, annealing, filling of working fluid, removal of non-condensable gas are required in a dust-proof chamber. Therefore, when the production line is temporary or overnight off, the heat pipes under process will not be exposed to air. Otherwise, the heat pipes have to be fabricated without interruption.
However, factors may affect the normal operation of the production line can hardly be controlled, dustproof rooms are typically built for heat-pipe manufactures. However, the dustproof rooms are very expensive, and it costs a lot to control the allowable members entering the dustproof rooms. Therefore, the cost of heat pipes cannot be reduced.